HMS Indian (1805)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
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| Name: | HMS Indian |
| Ordered: | 9 June 1803 |
| Builder: | Robert Shedden, Bermuda |
| Laid down: | December 1806 |
| Launched: | October 1805 |
| Fate: | Sold 24 April 1817 |
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | Indian |
| Owner: | Enderbys, then others |
| Acquired: | 1817 by purchase |
| Fate: | Leaves Lloyd's Register c.1838; last voyage ended June 1847. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 18-gun Bermuda-class sloop |
| Tons burthen: | 399 31⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 29 ft 11 in (9.1 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 14 ft 8 in (4.5 m) |
| Sail plan: | Sloop |
| Complement: | 121 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Indian was a Bermuda-built sloop launched in 1805. She captured two small privateers while on the West Indies and Halifax stations before the Royal Navy sold her in 1817. Her main claim to fame, however, is that she was the first command of future Rear-Admiral Charles Austen, who was also the brother of the famed novelist Jane Austen. Still, after the Navy sold her she became a whaler for Samuel Enderby & Sons. She apparently sailed for them until the mid-1830s; she then sailed for other owners until mid-1847, for a total of nine whaling voyages since leaving naval service.
Indian was one of six Bermuda-class sloops built in Bermuda, of Bermudan cedar. The class was a modified Dasher-class.
Lieutenant Charles John Austen received an appointment to Indian on 10 April 1804. She was then building in Bermuda. He did not receive his promotion to Commander until 10 September, and commissioned her on 10 October for the West Indies and Halifax stations. To raise a crew he put a front-page advertisement in the The Bermuda Gazette on 13 April 1805, extolling her virtues.
On one of her first cruises, Indian encountered four French frigates that surrounded her. A providential sudden calm enabled her to use her sweeps to push between them and get far enough away to escape when the breeze returned.
Lloyd's List reported in September 1806 that Indian had captured Nuestra Senora del Carmen and had sent her into Halifax. She had been sailing from Porto Cavalto (Puerto Cabello) to Cadiz.
Baltic arrived at Bermuda on 7 February 1807. She had been sailing from Isle de France (Mauritius), when Indian captured her.
In May or June Indian detained Eliza, an American vessel sailing from Cuba to Charleston, and sent her into Bermuda.
Indian arrived at Bermuda on 10 October from Newfoundland. At the end of September a violent gale had dismasted her dispersed the small convoy for the West Indies that she had been escorting. After the gale had passed she saw a schooner floating upside down; Indian believed the schooner to have been of the vessels of the convoy.
At daylight on 19 June 1808 Indian encountered two schooners at 38°3′N 74°4′W / 38.050°N 74.067°W. The schooners immediately tried to escape by taking different directions. Austen chased after the larger and sent his boats after the other. Austen quickly captured Jeune Estelle, of four guns and 25 men, which struck after fire from Indian's chase guns killed one man and wounded another. She had been sailing from River St. Mary's to St. Domingo with a cargo of flour and provisions.
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Wikipedia